Adventures

There I stood at the ancient birthplace of my modern life’s passion. The desert sun seared the air around me, troche but I shivered with the thrill of standing before the earliest writing known on earth: massive walls covered with the hieroglyphic alphabet of Ancient Egypt.
I put my hand as close to the wall [...]

Introducing the newest scientifically-based weight-loss program (drum-roll, please): Hanging out in the virtual world of Second Life!
Before you laugh yourself blind, let me say I’m telling you this in all seriousness. One of the recent news stories making the rounds of the mainstream media is an article reporting on a study that shows SL users [...]

It’s sort of a cross between an illustrated storybook and Disneyworld without the crowds, for sale noise, site and vendors. It’s a story you can literally immerse yourself in. And it’s something you’ll find only in a virtual world like Second Life. I love discovering ways in which writers use the 3D elements of […]

May 2009 will go down in my personal history as one of the most miserable months ever — personally and professionally. And it made me think about how wonderful first life could be if only it had a few more of Second Life’s features! But before I launch into my wishlist of features I think […]

I’m trying very hard to develop at least a minimal amount of affection for the sound of my voice. It’s tough, when I’ve hated hearing it for nearly half a century! After all, I’m a writer! You know — one of those people who can think as they type, but not as they talk. But […]

Second Life collapses time. Case in point: my almost-lifelong effort to find or start a writers’ group for sharing and feedback. For creative writers, the value of sharing their writing with other writers and getting feedback, support, and helpful critique is immeasurable. Some writers even say it’s essential for getting published. Whether that’s true or […]

For the first time in my life, I’m proud to call myself an evangelist. Wait! Before you click that X-to-close button (especially those of you who know me personally), I’m NOT talking about religion in any shape or form! No, what I’ve become downright evangelical about is Second Life . And especially this virtual world […]

Every writer I know has a bag of tricks they use to motivate themselves to just sit their butt down and write on those days when it simply feels too hard — an excuse often couched in the disguise of the moment: “I think I may be coming down with something,” or “it’s too hot/cold […]

“Why aren’t more writers flocking to Second Life?” I asked my partner one day. “Because SL is pretty overwhelming at first,” my partner answered. I laughed. “You should know! Remember how you wore two sets of hair for the longest time? Kept wandering off and getting lost?” (see photo below for example) No verbal response […]

When’s the last time you combined a walking meditation in a lush, serene natural setting with a creative writing session? Where you didn’t have to worry about cold, heat, rain, snow, mosquitoes, gnats, or any other bothersome aspect of nature. Where all you had to concentrate on was your writing and the gorgeous surroundings? For […]

Well, I was proved wrong once again: Participating in National Novel Writing Month was incredibly more challenging and far more rewarding than I ever expected! I herewith apologize to all my writer friends whose participation in previous NaNoWriMos I discounted — don’t ask if you were one; I’m too embarrassed to say — and now […]

The blame game: Given our myths and legends, I think it’s fair to say that humans have always played it. From the Garden of Eden story, to the tales from Mount Olympus, to this morning’s newspaper, we humans have used every trick in the book to blame anyone or anything else for our own choices. […]

Editor’s Note: This guest post by Gwyneth Llewelyn, “a blogger, philosopher, activist, and entrepreneur in the Second Life® world,” is part of the Second Life Bloggers first annual Mix ‘N Match blogging event suggested by Vint Falken of vintfalken.com and ArminasX Saiman of secondeffects.com. (Check either blog for more details about this event.) Each participating […]

Methinks it used to be far easier to be an introverted writer. And since 95 percent of writers are introverted (according to Ursula LeGuin), me-double-thinks it used to be a whole lot easier to be a writer, period! Writers today have to be almost as expert at the extraverted skills of marketing and sales as […]

We all have “those words”—you know, the ones we belittle as “manufactured” or “PC” or too trendy to do more than sneer at. For some, words like maximize and impact, used as verbs, top their list. For others, it’s terms like collateral damage to mean killing innocent people. For me, a word that’s long topped […]

Where else but in a virtual world (or if your name was Judy Garland) would a small-town Midwest-U.S. gal get to star in a movie? Well, “starring in a move” may be stretching it a bit (or a lot!), but fact is, I had the awesome experience of being among the cast of one of […]

Did you know that there’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 million to 200 million blogs today? So why in heaven’s name would I want to become blogger No. gazillion-and-one? Good question—and one a writer/blogger friend asked of other bloggers. She invited us each to write a post on own own blog about how we […]

For a writer, books are as important as oxygen, so why spend time in a virtual world where I can’t pick up a good book, flip its pages, lie on the beach reading? Those were some of my thoughts as I stumbled through the first few days as a Second Life newbie. Right away, I […]

I’ve recently become the primary moderator for the weekly Second Life meetings of the Athena Isle Writers Group. Thanks to an awesome author/networker/Second Lifer-er Cybergrrl Oh (Aliza Sherman in First Life), the group attracts writing experts and successful published authors of the caliber of best-selling cookbook authors Elizabeth Yarnell and Janet and Greta […]

“Joan, you’ve gone too far!” my First Life writer friend said after reading point 4 from my previous post. “You can’t tell writers they can learn to fly—or whatever!—by watching a cartoon avatar move around on a computer monitor!” Thankfully, we were on that old-fashioned social-networking device called the telephone, so he didn’t see my […]

I know I’m not a cat because I’m still alive after decades of following my curiosity into a vast assortment of situations–some good, some not-so-good. That’s how I got to Second Life, too. I’m always on the lookout for what’s new. What’s new out there? In there? Beyond here and there? And so […]

I live within driving distance of a terrific writers’ resource: The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. The Loft offers great classes, workshops, and author presentations, and makes it easy to find a peer group for that ongoing support and critique so key to writing success. I’m a long-time Loft member and have utilized their resources […]

A kid in a candy store! Yeah, I know it’s a cliche, but sometimes those are the only ways to describe something. And I’d never felt more like a kid surrounded by all the free candy I wanted — or like Alice in only the best parts of Wonderland — than I did […]

recommended for readers/writers

Many people have asked me if I have a Kindle reader. I do — and I love it! If you're interested in learning more about this fabulous device, click the link below.

New at Amazon.com: Author Stores. Something I've always wanted—a single page with all books by an author. Currently Amazon Author Stores is in beta, so not all my favorites are there, but they will be expanding.

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about me

Joan Kremer is a professional business/ nonfiction writer, novelist, short story writer, editor of an online literary journal, and most recently co-owner of the Story Mountain Center for Writers in Second Life® (where I go by the avatar name Alas Zerbino, whose picture appears above).

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Second Life, Linden, Linden Lab, inSL, SL, and SLurl are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. WRITERS IN THE (virtual) SKY, Joan Kremer, and Alas Zerbino are not affiliated with or sponsored by Linden Research.